Eavesdropping
by say hello to the angels
Summary: S5 - post 5.08 "Changing Channels." Gabriel is warming up to the Winchesters' goal of stopping the apocalypse but gets irritated by how protective Cas is of Sam and Dean. Being the trickster he is, Gabriel finds a creative way to end Cas' eavesdropping habits, which lead to numerous problems for our favorite angel.


**Title**: Eavesdropping

**Genre**: hurt/comfort, angst

**Pairing**: none intended

**Summary**:

S5 - post 5.08 "Changing Channels." Gabriel is warming up to the Winchesters' goal of stopping the apocalypse but gets irritated by how protective Cas is of Sam and Dean. Being the trickster he is, Gabriel finds a creative way to end Cas' eavesdropping habits, which lead to numerous problems for our favorite angel.

**Chapter One**

"But you have no plan? Nothing that you've thought up that would actually be effective?" Gabriel asked, trying to prove a point with his mocking tone. This was the second time that he'd shown up since his foray into directing television to try and sway the Winchesters into going along with the apocalypse.

"Hey," Dean snapped back, "maybe we have a plan but just don't trust you. Did you think of that?"

Gabriel raised a challenging eyebrow and responded, "My, you have a strange way of asking for help."

The archangel that was making himself at home in the small motel room, stretching out on Sam's chosen bed. He kicked the younger Winchester's bag onto the floor, and Sam tossed him an unimpressed look. "Since when would you be considered part of the 'help' department?" Sam asked dryly.

Dean looked up from his unpacking to see if Gabriel would actually answer the question when they heard the telltale sound of angel travel. Suddenly, Cas was standing inches from Dean and glaring at Gabriel. Dean twitched in response to the angel's sudden appearance and muttered, "Damn it, Cas…"

"Gabriel…" Cas ground out with a frown, staring intently at his older brother.

Gabriel merely grinned at Cas and said, "Oh Cas, you always know just what to say to make me feel welcome. I'm doing great, by the way."

Castiel didn't respond except to squint his eyes even more in Gabriel's direction.

"It amazes me how you can so clearly speak your mind, Cas," Gabriel commented sarcastically, sitting up to stare back at his younger brother.

"What are you doing here?" Cas demanded.

Gabriel stood and threw his hands in the air, exclaiming, "Can't a guy visit some new friends without being harassed? Do you eavesdrop on all our conversations? 'Cause I somehow think that dumb and dumber here wouldn't be too keen on that. Am I right?" Gabriel asked, glancing between Sam and Dean.

"Hey, leave us out of it," Dean grumbled as he resumed his unpacking. Sam rolled his eyes and went back to his research.

"When I heard you with the Winchesters, I was concerned for-"

"Ah! So you were eavesdropping!" Gabriel interrupted happily. "That's quite rude, you know."

Cas opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Gabriel again.

"There has to be a cure for eavesdropping on people that really don't like it." Gabriel tapped his chin thoughtfully, then smirked and said, "Aha! It'll even provide entertainment. What better remedy could you ask for?" He grinned at Cas, who suddenly looked worried, and then snapped his fingers loudly.

Dean and Sam swung their heads to look at Cas, amazed that he was still in the room. In fact, nothing seemed to have changed. Dean glanced between a smirking Gabriel and a frowning Cas and wondered just what the archangel had done this time.

"What did you do, Gabriel?" Sam asked, staring at Cas in worry. The last time Gabriel had dismissed Cas, the younger angel had been returned in poorer shape than expected.

"Oh, I just cured him of his little eavesdropping problem. Anywho…" he said, sounding bored already, "would you look at the time!"

Dean was still glancing between the two angels, trying to figure out what Gabriel had done. Cas had hardly moved in the last few moments except to clench his hands into fists at his sides.

"Hold up!" Dean called out before Gabriel vanished. "What the hell did you do?"

"I made him think he's a statue. He's doing a pretty good job, don't you think?" Gabriel laughed as Cas remained frozen in the same position. "Nah, nothing would faze him at this point. He really is too good at this," Gabriel pondered with a smirk.

Dean half-believed the archangel when he said that Cas was acting like a statue. He wouldn't put it past Gabriel to do this.

"See how great this is?" Gabriel commented, gesturing towards Cas. "We can talk about anything now, boys. The apocalypse, how much I want to burn that damn trenchcoat, all the ways that I haven't killed Dean and still could… Really, the list just goes on."

Sam was now looking at Cas with a worried expression. It wasn't like the angel to not get protective when someone threatened Dean, even if it was just a joke.

Gabriel grinned and stepped up closer to Dean before whispering in his ear, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to eavesdrop when you can't hear _anything_?"

With that, Gabriel disappeared with hardly a sound. Dean turned back to look at Cas and noticed that he was still staring at the spot that Gabriel had occupied.

"Cas?" Dean asked nervously, hoping that Gabriel had been joking. The last thing he needed was a hearing-impaired angel on his hands.

Castiel didn't turn to look at Dean, nor did he react in any way. Sam stood up from where he'd been sitting and watching and spoke quietly, "Cas? You with us?" Turning towards Dean, he asked what Gabriel had whispered before leaving.

Dean shook his head, not sure if it was even true. "Cas?" he asked loudly.

When the angel still didn't respond, Dean stepped closer and put a hand on Cas' shoulder, startling him. Cas stared at Dean with an expression that Dean could only classify as confusion and fear.

"Cas? Can you hear me?" Dean asked cautiously, wanting to hope that Cas was messing with him, but also knowing that the odds of that happening were incredibly slim.

Cas turned his gaze on Dean and did his signature head-tilt indicating his confusion. "Dean?" he asked quietly, then looked down in further confusion before repeating Dean's name several times, getting a bit louder each time.

Dean shared one tired look with Sam before saying, "Cas, come on man." When the angel didn't look up, Dean reached out and shook his shoulder, ending the repetition of his name from the angel's lips.

Cas held a hand up to his ear and gazed into Dean's eyes, and Dean couldn't help but mutter, "Well, shit."

**To Be Continued…**

It's a pretty short start for a story idea, but I've been wanting to write something for Supernatural and this popped into my head. If you liked it, please let me know! I love to hear from readers!

Just FYI - I love all these characters, so this isn't going to become a hate so-and-so fic... :)


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